IS U.S. TRAINING PALI TERRORISTS?

Claim: U.S. training known terror leader (WND)
Author says 9 other senior jihadists currently in American course

A known terrorist leader and nine senior members of a major terror organization are enrolled in two U.S.-run military training courses underway in the Middle East, according to the author of a new book.

WND's Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein, author of the recently released "Schmoozing with Terrorists," said yesterday he discovered the known terrorists are enrolled at a U.S. course in the West Bank city of Jericho that is training about 300 members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah security forces. Another course began earlier this month in Ramallah.

The U.S. has been running bases in Jericho to train Fatah militias since the late 1990s. Over the years, the U.S. also has provided Fatah militias with arms, reportedly including thousands of high-powered assault rifles during the past year alone.

In August, the State Department announced the U.S. will begin new training courses for Fatah militias in an effort to bolster Abbas against Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip in June when the terror group easily defeated American-backed Fatah forces in the territory.

The U.S. training programs include courses in the use of weapons. They are being partially funded with a $86.5 million grant approved by Congress in April and are slated to be infused with more funds from a $400 million grant President Bush asked Congress to approve last month ahead of next week's U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian summit in Annapolis, Md.

Klein said he learned yesterday that a known terrorist leader who also serves in Fatah security forces is taking part in a U.S.-run course underway in Jericho. The leader is a deputy commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group who doubles as a member of Fatah's Preventative Security Services, a Palestinian police force.

The Brigades deputy commander for three years resided in the northern West Bank but was transferred to Jericho by the PA two weeks ago. His terror cell took responsibility for four suicide bombings inside Israel, including a 2006 attack in Tel Aviv that killed nine Israelis and American teenager Daniel Wultz.

Along with the deputy commander at the Jericho course are three other senior members of the Brigades terror group.

Six other senior Brigades members are being trained in a smaller U.S. and European security course being run out of Ramallah, said Klein.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah's so-called military wing, took credit along with the Islamic Jihad terror group for every suicide bombing in Israel between 2005 and 2006. The Brigades is responsible for more terrorism from the West Bank than any other Palestinian Arab organization, carrying out thousands of shootings and grenade attacks.